


The Good Life

by fawatson



Category: Alexander Trilogy - Mary Renault
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1920006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fawatson/pseuds/fawatson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As an old man, Ptolemy is surrounded by friends he knew in his youth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Good Life

**Author's Note:**

> **Originally posted to:** maryrenaultfics at LiveJournal on 21/10/2010  
>  **Originally written for:** MRF's Spooky Story Challenge 2010  
>  **Prompt:** Lurking   
> **Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters and make no profit from them.

Ptolemy had always been blessed with a good memory, though there were times he wished not. Old age was no blessing, not when one outlived all one’s contemporaries, and a good selection of one’s juniors too. Yet there were times when some memories were closer than others: always in his book-room, high in the palace, where he could overlook Alexander’s tomb. The cat purred loudly on his lap, as the old man mused to himself. 

“Like that, do you Perseus?” 

A feline head tipped back as the cat lazily surveyed his human, before rising from the old king’s lap to arch his back in a lazy stretch, turn round, and lie back down. His butted his head against Ptolemy’s hand demanding attention. 

“Just like a cat, self-centred to the last,” Ptolemy remarked, “Like a woman too. Don’t you know you’re a male? You should be out and about conquering your territory, not here begging for love.” He continued stroking behind the cat’s ears with one hand while the other uncovered a small onyx bowl and selected a small morsel to offer his pet. Perseus sniffed delicately, then deigned to accept the offering, eating daintily, before rubbing his head against Ptolemy’s hand in mute request for more. 

The old man communed with his cat for a time before falling suddenly into a nap, as old men are wont to do. Perseus slipped from his lap and leapt up to the window to look out over the city: Ptolemy’s domain...and hers. When she had asked to be reincarnated as a male, she had not expected to return as a cat. Still, it allowed her to be close to Ptolemy – closer than any of his wives had ever been. In this life, as in her last, Thais remained his confidante. It was a good life.

A loud yowl from the terrace outside announced the presence of the matriarch of the palace: a large fierce tortoiseshell who terrorised the rest of the feline occupants – all save those chosen few who could call on the protection of human inhabitants. Perseus washed his face assiduously, pretending not to notice Olympias below. _She_ had demanded to be reunited with her son, and look where it had got her! Perseus felt a certain smug satisfaction as he noticed the burly scarred tom cat lurking in the shadows. Olympias had not yet noticed she was being stalked. 

As he jumped down from the window ledge, hisses resonated outside, followed by growls. Perseus did not pause as he made his way back to Ptolemy’s lap, and made himself comfortable again. Olympias might be feisty; but Phillip was an experienced campaigner, and not one to let a few protests divert him from his goal. The little cat snuggled against Ptolemy’s hand (which, in automatic reflex, scratched his head), yawned widely, and went to sleep.


End file.
